THE PRESIDENCY by HUGH SIDEY: A Little Experience Is ... Useful

Almost every new
President, fresh from political triumph or flushed with the vibrancy of
vast power, thinks foreign policy is easy. He is flattered by other
heads of state, puffed up by admiring aides. Deflation inevitably
follows. The important thing is not that mistakes are made. They always
are. The meaningful point is whether the President learns from them,
and how fast he learns. That is the question today about Jimmy Carter.
He has had his first seminar with the Soviet Union. More will follow.